Politically Speaking: Missouri Auditor Galloway on her bid for a full, 4-year term

State Auditor Nicole Galloway returns to the Politically Speaking podcast to talk about her quest for a full, four-year term in office.

The Democratic official was appointed to her post in 2015 after the suicide of Tom Schweich. She’s squaring off against Republican Saundra McDowell in the Nov. 6 election. McDowell’s episode of Politically Speaking will be posted on Wednesday afternoon.

A native of Fenton, Galloway graduated from Missouri University of Science and Technology with degrees in applied mathematics and economics. She also earned an MBA from the University of Missouri-Columbia. As with recent state auditors, like Republican Margaret Kelly and Democrat Susan Montee, Galloway is a certified public accountant.

Then-Gov. Jay Nixon appointed her to be Boone County treasurer in 2011 after the death of incumbent treasurer Jan Fugit. Before she took the plunge into county politics, Galloway worked as corporate auditor for Shelter Insurance in Columbia and as an actuarial analyst with Allstate Insurance. She also worked at Brown Smith Wallace, where she audited insurance and reinsurance companies throughout the country.

After much speculation, Nixon picked Galloway in April 2015 to serve out the balance of Schweich’s second term. She’s carried on Schweich’s practice of rating governmental entities on an “excellent” to “poor” scale and following up on state institutions that receive an unfavorable audit. She’s also been called in to do an audit of St. Louis’ city government.

Here’s some of what Galloway had to say during the show:

Galloway said she has a “strong track record of getting results for taxpayers and I’m proud of those accomplishments.” She’s questioned McDowell’s competency for the job, pointing out financial and residency issues that have flared up during the campaign.

She’s been outspoken against undisclosed donations in Missouri politics, particularly a politically-active nonprofit that allies of former Gov. Eric Greitens set up. Galloway has also been critical of millions of dollars of money from unknows sources flowing into a campaign to raise the minimum wage.

A measure known as “Clean Missouri” would give the state auditor responsibility in picking a demographer to draw state House and Senate districts. Galloway said she would make sure that process is done in a fair manner. “The demographer should not be a political hire,” she said. “It should be someone based on qualifications and experience — things that I value.”

Some Democrats have floated Galloway as a possible gubernatorial nominee in 2020. But she said she’s focused on winning a full term as auditor. “I’m running for this because I want to be auditor for four years. I do. I want a full term,” she said. “I am an auditor by trade. I feel so passionately about this job and making government work better.”

This week’s election edition of Politically Speaking looks into the referendum over Missouri’s right-to-work law — and the GOP primary for state auditor.

Besides the U.S. Senate contest, the right-to-work fight and GOP auditor race will be on every Missouri primary ballot on Aug. 7. And both matters could have long-term ramifications for the state’s politics.

Updated Oct. 1 at 4:30 p.m. with comments from the St. Louis Police Department — Police in Missouri do not know the whereabouts of nearly 1,200 sex offenders who are required by law to register with law enforcement — or nearly 8 percent of the total population who are supposed to be tracked.

An audit released Monday by state Auditor Nicole Galloway found that nearly 800 of those individuals have committed the most serious crimes, such as rape or child molestation in the first degree.

Out of all the items on the Nov. 6 ballot, Clean Missouri is creating some of the most unusual partners in recent Missouri political history.

Proponents of the measure, on the ballot as Amendment 1, include left-of-center activists who helped write and fund the initiative, as well as some current and former GOP officials. Clean Missouri backers believe that the amendment will make lawmakers more responsive to people instead of special interest groups or lobbyists.